First Lesson

Today I had my first official Yabusame lesson and it was on horseback.  (yay!)  I hadn't been expecting that.  Last weekend, I had gone out to meet another student and ended up getting a free practice session with her bow - in which I learned about many of the differences between Yabusame and the Plains Indian style horse archery that I was used to.  Today I thought we would be doing more shooting the bow on the ground, like we did last weekend.  However, I'd brought my helmet, just in case.

The entire hour was spent on Mulan, the sweet horse I rode my very first time out there.

The majority of that time was spent trying to learn the way to ride a horse for Yabusame.

It is VERY different from anything I've done before.

In fact...  I wasn't actually able to do it properly at all.  My body pretty much said, "You want me to do what?  Um, no thank you."  I think part of the problem is that I am sadly more out shape now than usual; I certainly haven't had to do any horse chores for the last year and a half.   But also, the way of riding for this is just so different.  I had no idea.  Picture riding in a squatting position, hovering over the horse - feet far forward, butt up and out, chest up and back.  It was entirely as awkward as it sounds.  I gave it an honest try though, over and over, until my legs were d.e.a.d.

The "reward", as far as I was concerned, was that at the very end I was able to ride Mulan through two passes down the Yabusame track (a long sandy path that the horses run on during the event).  She has a strong, bouncy trot - which I had been trying to ride while failing to squat in the saddle - and I had no idea what to expect from her faster gaits.  I was nervous too, having not gone over a trot in quite some time  (just over a year ago and then only briefly at the canter).  On top of all of that, my legs were done by that point.

With all of that, could I even stay on?  I did and I was very pleasantly surprised to learn that her canter and gallop are smooth - and fun!  I cantered about the last third of the track the first pass, but then got into a gallop on my last pass and galloped about half to two-thirds of the way that time.  It felt like we were flying toward the end on that run - but the instructor assured me she can go even faster.

It was SO much fun!

The homework I've given myself is to do hundreds of squats.  Everyday.

Ha!

Gone and Done It

I have resisted this for a long time, knowing that I did NOT need to learn another "crafty thing" and certainly didn't have a reason to hoard any more craft supplies...  However, there is a drive going on here to gather scarves for the residents of a local nursing home.  I could buy them (and may still buy some...) but I thought it would be fun and wonderful to make some.  My good friend, Holly, is a crochet whiz, mostly self taught, and she's been offering to teach me for some time now.  I fought against it, but...

As of yesterday, I do (a tiny bit of) crochet.

Behold, the beginnings of my first scarf:

Still a little ways to go.

I'm hoping to be able to make at least a few to donate.  I'm getting the process down, but am still feeling at least half thumbs and I am NOT fast at it - yet.

I talked to Jeff tonight about how I only have a small selection of yarn in my "you never know" craft hoard- er, stock of supplies...  So I think I've only got enough to make a couple of scarves and they might not be all that great - cheap, scratchy yarn and such.  He mentioned, "We can always buy you more yarn."

Reeeally...?

Haha.

I will not start hoarding yarn.  I will not start hoarding yarn.  I will not start...


In other news:  Today was our first snow!!!

It's not something I like to talk about, but...  I have been going through some fairly severe depression the last several days, to the point of not wanting to get out of bed...  Seeing the snow falling for most of today was a pick-me-up that I desperately needed.  If you didn't already know - I love snow.

Motivation Monday - Only You Can

Another week is upon us!  I may be in the minority for liking Mondays, and I confess: it wasn't always this way.  Now, though, I choose to look at them as a fresh start, a new chance to run at our dreams.  

Let's go!

Horse Club Visit

I've talked a bit about the "horse club" which ended up being two horse clubs - a general riding/Yabusame club and a seperate club with a focus on English style riding and jumping.

As of late July/early August there is a third club in the area, brand new.  It is the Misawa Horse Park and is closest of all, only about 10 miles away!  They are another general riding/Yabusame club and are being built from the ground up.  Right now they have four horses, or as most might think, based on size: three ponies and one horse.

Back in early August, a Japanese friend arranged for me to visit the park, right after they initially opened.  She served as my translator for setting up the visit and while we were there.  I was offered a ride on one of their horses and most happily accepted.

I rode "Mulan", probably considered a pony by height, but very stocky.  She is a sweetheart.

She is also a Yabusame horse and came to the Misawa club from the other Yabusame club.

I was introduced to all four of the horses at the Misawa club, but could only remember one other name, in addition to Mulan.  That was Judy.  Easy to remember, since Judy is the name of my sweet dressage instructor and friend back in South Dakota.  Judy is the one "horse" at the park.

This past Monday, my Japanese friend made arrangements for us to have another visit.  I haven't been feeling well the past couple of weeks (the past couple of months if I'm being totally honest), but I hoped a visit to the horses would cheer me up, even on a gloomy, rainy day.

When we got there, the horses were all out in the big pen, eating their breakfasts.  I would have been okay to just watch them and take pictures, but the girl working there asked when horse I wanted to see.  I said any of them would be fine.  She went out and came back with:

Judy.

Our entire visit was Judy munching grass while I petted her and inhaled the wet horse smell.

I also took lots of pictures of her.

She had a really pretty halter on, with what appeared to be tooled leather and painted pink flowers.

Unfortunately I didn't get a good picture of it.

I did get a bunch of pictures of her.

Including some closeups.  Pinto horses are such a wealth of interesting markings.

We didn't stay long; it was a cold, rainy day and I didn't want to interrupt the goings on there (though Judy didn't seem to mind having some grass instead of hay).  We did make arrangements for my next visit - this coming Saturday!  I am supposed to meet with another Japanese woman who is taking Yabusame lessons there and speaks English.  I'm looking forward to maybe making another horse friend here and being around the horses again.

Yabusame - I Did It! Sorta

At the horse festival a couple of weekends ago, I actually had not one pony ride, but two.  The second was a chance to try Yabusame (Japanese horse archery) on a horse.

They started me off on the ground with three chances to shoot the (looong) bow that they use.

It is quite a bit different from the horse archery that I'm used to.

First, the bow is quite a bit longer.  Secondly, as I experienced the first time I was able to shoot one - back in March, they use arrows with a weight on the end.  Most different of all I think, is the way in which the bow is drawn.

The bow is lifted, arms high overhead.

Then, instead of drawing the string back, the bow is actually pushed away from the hand holding the string, as it is lowered to sight the arrow.

In Yabusame competition run there are three targets, so you get three arrows.  I was given three arrows to shoot on the ground and then it was time to get on a horse!

They had several horses available and told me I could pick one.  I ended up going with the one that was in front of me.

Trying to work things out, horseback.

Up goes the bow.

Knocking another arrow and trying to remember everything that I'm supposed to be doing.

Lining up on the target.

Away went the arrow.  When they loose an arrow, they sort of let their hand fly back away from the bow string.  Obviously I have not mastered that move.

Out of three tries, I hit the target twice, the other arrow bounced off the edge.  Pretty good, though of course I was sitting still, right in front of the target.

I've got a long way to go before I can do this:

Still, I'm glad for the chance to try it out.  I'm still looking into lessons here.  They are expensive... but it is a cultural experience that I'd like to take advantage of while we are here.

Busy Makin' Stuff

While things have been relatively quiet here on the blog front, I've been busy making (or finishing) a bunch of things.

Here are a few quick pictures of what I've been up to.

The next batch of saddlepads are now finished with felt backings and signature tags:

I've also been making a bunch of saddle stands.

Four of them are unfinished wood:

Eight stands are in a variety of colors: slate blue, black, dark pink, red, and green.  I've done two of each color.

They turned out kinda cool!

Next up is the daunting task of (properly - or as best I can) photographing each new thing and getting them listed in my shop.  This is not the fun stuff, for me, which - as I've said before - is why I constantly have a backlog of finished pieces that need to be photographed and listed.  Oh, I do enjoy taking pictures, but I'm not that good at it and my product photography often leaves much to be desired, so it's not something I look forward to.  Still really need to work on that...

I'm going to try and buckle down though and get all of these squared away and up for sale.  Be on the lookout for them!  ;)

Almost Wordless Wednesday - Jumping in Japan

This past weekend was a horse festival in the nearby city of Towada.  Last year it was held on one weekend, with a large Yabusame (Japanese horse archery) competition and also a jumping competition.  This year it was held over two weekends.  The first was the main Yabusame competition and the next, last weekend, was the jumping portion.